Due to advances in computing technology, businesses today are able to operate more efficiently when compared to substantially similar businesses only a few years ago. For example, networking enables employees of a company to communicate instantaneously by email, quickly transfer data files to disparate employees, manipulate data files, share data relevant to a project to reduce duplications in work product, etc. Furthermore, advancements in technology have enabled factory applications to become partially or completely automated. For instance, operations that once required workers to put themselves proximate to heavy machinery and other various hazardous conditions can now be completed at a safe distance therefrom.
Further, imperfections associated with human action have been minimized through employment of highly precise machines. Many of these factory devices supply data related to manufacturing databases or web services referencing databases that are accessible by system/process/project managers on a factory floor. For instance, sensors and associated software can detect a number of instances that a particular machine has completed an operation given a defined amount of time. Further, data from sensors can be delivered to a processing unit related to system alarms. The system alarms can be presented to machine users to communicate operating conditions.
While various advancements have been made with respect to automating an industrial process, utilization and design of controllers have been largely unchanged. In more detail, industrial controllers have been designed to efficiently undertake real-time control. For instance, conventional industrial controllers receive data from sensors and, based upon the received data, generate a message, an alarm or the like. These controllers recognize a source and/or destination of the data by way of a symbol and/or address associated with source and/or destination. More particularly, industrial controllers include communications ports and/or adaptors, and sensors, actuators, drives, and the like are communicatively coupled to such ports/adaptors. Thus, a controller can recognize device identity when data is received and further deliver control data to an appropriate device.
Conventionally, in order to generate customized alarms or messages, alarm formats must be setup or defined a priori by an operator or other individuals with knowledge of the process. For example, it may be desirable to format the alarms in the language of Spanish for a certain time shift when a Spanish-speaking operator is working at a particular machine or overseeing a certain process. Problems can arise, however, if the work schedule of the operator is altered. For instance, ideally the Spanish-speaking operator follows strictly to his/her work schedule, such that alarms in Spanish language type are presented to the operator at his scheduled work hours. If, however, the Spanish-speaking operator is absent due to an unforeseen circumstance, a substitute operator might not understand the alarms in Spanish language.